THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505200055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
IT'S LOUD. It's larger than life. Most of all, it's bombastic.
This is about all that is needed for ``Die Hard With a Vengeance'' to cash in on its franchise as a sure-bet box office winner in the action genre.
Movies such as this are not judged by how well they are plotted, written or acted. They are special-effect displays akin to the circus: watch, gasp and don't ask.
Such movies stand or fall on action sequences, those lively displays that appear at formulaic periods between the bare minimum of talking by human actors. In the case of ``Die Hard With a Vengeance,'' the third installment in the adventures of unorthodox cop John McClane, there are three big displays.
First, Bonwit Teller's department store, a fixture in midtown Manhattan, explodes. It's a huge event that clearly broadcasts that the budget here is no skimpy thing.
Second, there is a wild car chase through Central Park. What would movie chases be without folks laughably scattering to get out of the way?
Third, there is an awesome subway wreck.
All three segments drew howls and cheers from the fans. The quiet ones merely applauded. The extroverts actually stood up and cheered.
``Die Hard III'' measures up where it matters - in movement and effects.
But it is the victim of bad timing. The tragic national news in Oklahoma makes its ``mad bomber'' plot a good deal more realistic than was surely intended. Real-life bombs don't seem as distant or cartoonish as they did two months ago. The filmmakers can surely not be blamed for the bad timing, but movies have been obsessed for some time with mad bombers (``Speed,'' ``Blown Away,'' ``In the Line of Fire'').
This is not the time, though, to ponder if this superficial treatment of such violence may have contributed to the crazed thinking of some maniacs. Time has proven that maniacs are out there, and probably always will be, no matter what's playing at the movies.
On other counts, the new movie, directed by John McTiernan, who helmed the first (1987) edition, risks changing the hit formula.
For one thing, Bruce Willis as John McClane is not as clumsy, inept and humorous as he was in the other films. Willis' great attraction, and the quality that made his ``Die Hard'' hero unique, was that he was an Everyman who didn't seek out trouble. With a body that is less than chiseled, a receding hairline and a what-the-hoot attitude, he is a quite winning hero simply because he's no superman.
The character of John McClane, though, has the same problem Rocky faced when he got down to ``III'' and ``IV.'' How do you stay an underdog after your big wins? McClane is now sought out by the bomber because of his celebrity. He no longer stumbles into a do-or-die situation. It comes looking for him.
Another major change is that the producers come close to turning ``Die Hard'' into ``Lethal Weapon.'' Not content, apparently, to allow Willis to carry the lone star billing, they have added Samuel L. Jackson as a crime-fighting buddy. Jackson, Oscar nominated for ``Pulp Fiction,'' almost steals the show as Zeus, a Harlem businessman who inexplicably joins Willis. Their mission: to stop the evil Jeremy Irons, a riddler who is undertaking a private war against the cop.
Willis is wild and devil-may-care, while Jackson is responsible and serious-minded. It worked with ``Lethal Weapon,'' but if you're going to call the movie ``Die Hard,'' why not stick to the original, winning formula?
Irons merely phones in his performance as the riddler. His brand of cool sophistication worked well enough in all those British turns, but madness needs a bit more heat. In any case, he's not in the same villainous class as the likes of Alan Rickman in the first ``Die Hard,'' Dennis Hopper in ``Speed'' or John Malkovich in ``In the Line of Fire.'' In fact, this movie's major fault is the lack of a riveting villain.
McClane's wife, who was in peril in the previous films, is not seen at all, leaving Bonnie Bedelia unemployed.
In the end, as well as the beginning and middle, the special effects carry the movie. They are as special as money can buy. ILLUSTRATION: 20th CENTURY FOX
Bruce Willis, right, and Samuel L. Jackson in a tight spot in "Die
Hard With a Vengeance."
CINERGI PICTURES
Bruce Willis, left, and Samuel L. Jackson work together as
crime-fighting buddies in ``Die Hard With a Vengeance.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Die Hard With a Vengeance''
Cast: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham
Greene, Colleen Camp
Director: John McTiernan
Screenplay: Jonathan Hensleigh
MPAA rating: R (questionable humor about alcoholism and race,
violence that can, perhaps, be excused by cartoonish stance,
language)
Mal's rating: ***
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Circle 4, Main Gate
in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven Mall, Surf-N-Sand in
Virginia Beach
by CNB